Int. No. 553-A

By Council Members Riley, Cabán, Abreu, Marte, Avilés, Hudson, Restler, Won, Brooks-Powers, Velázquez, Krishnan, Farías, De La Rosa, Sanchez, Narcisse, Menin, Stevens, Dinowitz, Hanif, Richardson Jordan and Mealy (by request of the Bronx Borough President)

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the fire department to plan and implement training on diversity, inclusion, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Title 15 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 15-143 to read as follows:

§ 15-143 Diversity, inclusion, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training.  a. The department, in consultation with the department of citywide administrative services, shall develop and implement a plan for providing ongoing training and education to all employees regarding diversity and inclusion. Such plan shall include, but not be limited to:

1. Providing annual training for employees regarding the department’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies;

2. Providing annual training for employees regarding diversity and inclusion, which shall include, but not be limited to, instruction on: (a) cultural sensitivity, (b) conscious and unconscious biases in relation to race, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity, and (c) positive attitudes regarding departmental diversity and inclusion;

3. Providing employees in supervisory roles with training on promoting inclusion within the workplace, and identifying and remedying workplace discrimination and harassment, including through mediation and restorative practices;

4. Providing assessments to demonstrate the successful proficiency of all trained employees on the subject matters contained in the trainings;

5. Providing additional and targeted interactive training to firehouses, as the department deems necessary, including but not limited to firehouses where one or more employee was found in violation of the city’s equal employment opportunity policy or human rights law, or the department’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies on two or more occasions during the prior year; and

6. Engaging with employees from populations that are underrepresented within the rank of firefighter regarding efforts the department should take to improve workplace culture.

b. Reporting. The department shall post a report on its website by June 1 of each year, regarding efforts taken to implement the diversity, inclusion, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training plan as required by subdivision a of this section. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to, specific actions and commitments made to implement such plan.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately, except that subdivision b of section 15-143 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by section one of this local law, shall be deemed repealed on and after June 30, 2027.